Manchester City, Tottenham and West Ham Buoyed in Alvaro Negredo Pursuit

Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United's pursuit of Sevilla forward Alvaro Negredo has been boosted after the La Liga side clinched a deal for Carlos Bacca from Club Brugge.

Sevilla claim they are under no financial pressure to sell Negredo after parting company with winger Jesus Navas for a reported fee of £22m.

West Ham are understood to have had a bid for Negredo rejected by Sevilla, while both City and Tottenham have reportedly lodged an interest.

President Jose Maria del Nido remains adamant a bid from City has not been received for Negredo, who has already informed the club he wishes to move to pastures new this summer.

And Sevilla have dropped the biggest hint yet that they are preparing for life after Negredo by signing Bacca, who has fulfilled a dream by moving to La Liga.

"This is truly a dream come true," he said. "When I came to Europe, it has always been my dream to play in the Primera Division.

"It would have been a huge disappointment if Club Brugge and Sevilla FC had failed to reach an agreement."

Only Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Radamel Falcao scored more goals in Spanish football last season than Negredo, but despite being 27 years of age the forward's release clause is close to €30m.

Although they have already signed Andy Carroll from Liverpool, West Ham co-owner David Gold is keen to add a second striker in the January transfer window.

The Hammers have already added Razran Rat, Adrian and Danny Whitehead to their squad ahead of the new season.

After missing out on signing David Villa, Tottenham are rapidly running out of potential transfer targets this summer but given the problems encountered by both Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe, manager Andre Villas-Boas will have a new striker at the top of is wishlist.

Besiktas' interest in Adebayor could well speed up Villas-Boas' pursuit of a forward, however, Tottenham are unlikely to part ways with the Togolese international without having a replacement already lined up.

City's lack of firepower last season contributed ton their woeful defence of the Premier League title, and a new striker, following the sale of both Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli in successive transfer window, is a priority for new manager Manuel Pellegrini.

"We have two strikers at the moment and we need another one," Pellegrini said in his first press conference as City manager. "I won't name names at the moment. We need two players in every position and we will try to do our best to get them."